


Sweet Distractions

by itswheremydemonshide10



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: Affair era, Fluff, M/M, canon infidelity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 12:04:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11509074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itswheremydemonshide10/pseuds/itswheremydemonshide10
Summary: For the anon who prompted affair era + ice cream.





	Sweet Distractions

Aaron isn’t exactly sure how they ended up here.

All he knows is that he had turned up at his and Robert’s secret meeting spot – the layby where they had shared their first kiss – expecting to meet him for a night away, after Robert had text him the night before:

_“Need to see you. Usual place, after work?”_

Such messages usually led to a care-free night away in a hotel, just the two of them. So Aaron had packed his overnight bag, ducked his mum’s awkward questions and set off, barely able to hide the grin on his face.

Aaron didn’t expect to pull up and find Robert pacing up and down, looking agitated.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah… no sorry. I meant to… book somewhere for us to go, but I was so snowed under with work, the client was being an absolute dick, and now Lawrence is on my case and Chrissie’s doing my head in…” Robert finally took a deep breath, and sighed.

“Sorry, you didn’t come here to listen to me ramble about my problems. You don’t have to stick around, I just… really wanted to see you.” Robert looks like a caged animal, frazzled and undone, nothing like his usual poised and in-control self.

The fact that Robert is not only allowing him to be here at a time like this, but that he desperately wants him to be, makes something warm flip in the pit of Aaron’s stomach. He can’t resist reaching out, a hand on each of Robert’s tense shoulder, talking directly to him.

“It’s ok. I’m glad you asked me.”

Robert’s eyes flick cautiously to check that the country lane is still clear, before closing the rest of the gap between them, and letting their lips meet, in a way that is firm and grounding. When they pull apart Robert rests his forehead on Aaron’s, closes his eyes, and just allows himself to breathe. Aaron sees the tiredness in every line of Robert’s face, and knows that he will do anything to soothe that away.

“Come on, get in my car. Leave yours here. I’m gonna take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Away from here.” He tells Robert cryptically. “Just trust me.”

-

That’s how Aaron ends up sitting on an old stone wall with Robert by his side, as the sun begins to sink low over the horizon of the ocean.

It’s the beach he used to come to as a child, a place he’s never shared with anyone else, not until today.

They had managed to grab two ice creams from the guy in the kiosk, just as he closed up, before sitting on the wall on a quiet stretch of the promenade.

Robert looks like a different person now, the invisible weight of stress lifted from his shoulders. The distance from Emmerdale making him bold enough to squish up close to Aaron when the chill of the coastal breeze whips off the waves and cuts through them despite the low, bright sunshine.

They don’t talk about work, or stress, or Home Farm, instead Aaron tells him about his childhood trips to this beach, and Robert recounts a few of his own memories of childhood holidays. They chat, and laugh, and tease each other, and Aaron can’t remember the last time he felt this free. He also knows, without words, that Robert feels the same.

Aaron notices as Robert finishes his cone, that he has a smear of ice cream just above his upper lip. He could tell him, or wipe it away for him, but there’s something so innocent and endearing about it that Aaron stays quiet.

They go for a walk before heading back to the car, wandering slowly along the deserted damp sand and stones, the sun beginning to set now but neither of them wanting to leave. It’s then that Robert does something he has never done before, he pulls his hand out of his jacket pocket and twines it with Aaron’s hand instead.

If anyone saw them now, they would just look like an ordinary couple on an early evening walk together. Aaron realises this with a jolt that makes him stop walking, pulling Robert to a halt with him.

“Robert…” Aaron begins, but when Robert turn those bright eyes onto him, he realises he doesn’t know how to say it. How to explain the things that Robert makes him feel, the way he wishes it could always be like this, or his gut instinct that tells him that his lover feels that desperate pull too.

So instead he brings his hand up to brush at Robert’s upper lip.

“You have a bit of ice cream on you.”

“Oh… Thank you” Robert replies. Aaron knows from the warm sincerity in Robert’s eyes that he isn’t just thanking him for cleaning his face. He looks genuinely moved by Aaron’s little impromptu plan, by the small, peaceful bubble they’re inhabiting, and maybe just a little bit by Aaron himself.

And for now that’s enough.


End file.
